NPR'S Robert Siegel speaks with New York Times reporter Ben Weiser about testimony by a Turkish-Iranian gold trader charged with conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions against Iran. Star witnesses have testified that the scheme was broader, and possibly involved the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself.

President Trump may have handed Israel a symbolic victory with his recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, but every day in East Jerusalem, Palestinians face pressures to assimilate. With hope for a two-state solution dwindling, more families are applying for Israeli passports, and more Palestinian children are attending schools that teach the official Israeli curriculum.

Nancy French is a Southern, conservative Christian writer who has written about her experience as the victim of childhood sexual abuse, her break with the Republican Party over Donald Trump's presidential candidacy and about empathizing with Roy Moore's Moore's accusers. NPR's Robert Siegel speaks with French about Alabama's special election and its implications for Christian conservatives.

In its 17 years, the "village movement" — that aims to let the elderly age in their homes — has taken root mostly in well-off, white communities. Activists are now trying to adapt it to poorer, minority communities, such as the Englewood neighborhood in south Chicago.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testified before Congress on Wednesday. Rosenstein defended the special counsel in the face of Republicans' allegations of anti-Trump political bias among the investigators.

African-American voters turned out in big numbers to help propel Democrat Doug Jones' upset victory in the Alabama U.S. Senate race. It was a surprising show of political muscle by a community that's been locked out of power in a Republican-dominated state.

South African President Jacob Zuma is plagued by allegations of corruption, which have tainted the image of his governing of the African National Congress. The party is deeply split ahead of its leadership conference this weekend, where a new leader will be chosen.

In Alabama's special U.S. Senate election, African-Americans made up as much as 30 percent of the electorate — with 96 percent of them voting for Democrat Doug Jones. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Benard Simelton, President of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, about the NAACP's get-out-the-vote campaign in the race.